AN: Okay so here goes my first fanfiction in the realm of Middle Earth! Review and tell me what you think! Enjoy!
Chapter 1 Almost Lost a Nose
Grace Harper was walking down the street on the way back to the local foster care department to meet with her social worker.
The foster care family she had been staying with for the past two months decided they had no interest in adopting her.
It wasn't that surprising to Grace, since she had never been adopted, moving around from foster home to foster home. She wasn't an easy person to get to know, even at a very young age. She was very guarded and a loner, preferring the company of poetry and music to people.
It wasn't that she wasn't likeable, when the rare person, like Mrs. Lee the social worker in charge of her case, got to know her. She was almost a different person then, smiley, easy to converse with, and trusting. But to get past the fortress she had around her since she was young was not an easy feat. Combine that with the fact that most families weren't looking to adopt a seventeen year old Grace had given up years ago that a family would ever want her.
She had all of her belongings with her in her backpack, which was actually a hiker's backpack in order to hold all of her things, mostly clothes, her mp3 player and two books: The Selected Poetry of Lord Byron and a very well-worn copy of The Hobbit.
She fell in love with The Hobbit when she was ten and read it for the first time. She read it over and over constantly, loving the escape it always provided for her.
She wore her only pair of shoes, a green pair of Converse high tops and a quiver of arrows over her shoulder and her bow was slung over the other.
She practiced archery since she was nine when Mrs. Lee suggested she take up an afternoon activity with the local 4-H. Grace found that she was a natural and took to the sport immediately.
She decided to take a trail through the woods that would come out at the back of the department.
Halfway there she stopped, taking her bow in hand and nocking an arrow in place. She took aim at a tree and let her arrow fly. Instead of hitting the desired target it just disappeared.
"What the…?"
She walked forward and looked curiously at the tree, around the tree and around the area where it could have landed. But there was no mistaking what her eyes had seen, the arrow had literally disappeared. She stood in front of the tree and stared at it with incredulity. She cautiously reached a hand out to touch the tree in the spot where the arrow should have hit.
She gasped as felt a pull on her and she helplessly tumbled forward.
~O.o~
Gandalf was just stepping out of a tavern in Hobbiton.
He spent the afternoon enjoying the company of Hobbits and a few pints of ale. When he saw the sun setting he decided it was time he headed back to Bilbo's where he knew Thorin and company would be arriving soon.
He was chuckling as he shut the door to the tavern behind him.
"Oh!" he yelped as an arrow barely missed his nose.
He went to his right curiously but could not discern where the arrow came from.
"Oomph!"
The breath was knocked out of him when a shorter, smaller figure smacked into him and they both came crashing down to the ground.
Few things surprised Gandalf and this was one of them.
"Oh! I'm sorry sir!" Grace said, breathless and frightened at the sight of the old man beneath her.
She quickly scrambled to her feet and held out her hands to help him up.
"Oh, thank you," he said, taking her hands gratefully. "And it's quite alright my dear. And where is that you are from exactly?"
He quirked an eyebrow at her as he took in her peculiar dress. In addition to her high tops she wore dark rinse skinny jeans that clung to her curves, a grey v neck t shirt and a brown, sweatshirt thick zip up jacket, the hood of which was pulled over her head. Her dark brown hair was in a braid behind her left ear that almost went down to her waist. It was quite unusual dress indeed, especially for a young lady.
"Um…" she was contemplating whether or not to tell him when she realized the man before her looked eerily like Gandalf with his pointed hat, grey robes, silver scarf and staff.
"Gandalf!?"
"How do you know me?"
Before she could answer he continued, "Never mind that for now. I have somewhere to be. Due to this strange circumstance I insist that you come with me."
Grace decided not to question him, he was Gandalf the Grey after all. She nodded and moved to follow him. She spotted her arrow and picked it up, putting it back in her quiver and walking next to Gandalf, more confused than she had ever been in her entire life.